Dear St Croix families,
THANK YOU for your patience in and understanding of not
receiving an update in the last two weeks. Here is it!
The students have had a productive month of January in spite
of the three short [four day] weeks. Beginning in January, we started a new
type of learning journal. First, I want to share that our use of learning
journals in this, their first year, is to prepare them for filling out their
learning journals in the future, all by themselves with date, time and
comments. I don’t have expectations that this habit will fully develop before
their third year, but the practice of already using a learning journal as a
personal record of their work is fundamental in developing habit. Just for the
record, I do not view these journals as ‘work plans,’ as assignments they must
do. I do however, view the lessons and activities that I have added already to
their journals as recommendations and suggestions based on both areas that need
further development and areas of interest. The goal of the learning journal being
to bring the student into an honest and open discussion of areas in which they
need to work and the identification of their interests.
You may have seen on the learning journals that have come home that there is a section for our meeting notes. Every other week, during Art, which occurs in
small groups, I meet with the other students individually to talk about their
social and academic development. I ask questions then, I listen and take notes.
This conference provides information to me about whole or small group lessons
that are needed related to social behavior as well as the interests and level
of responsibility of each individual student. Due to the unexpected snow day on
a Tuesday, we did not formally have our individual conferences – thus there are
no notes from me. However, over the next week or so, we were able to check in,
here and there with students and stay abreast of their development. In the
future, you will be able to see my notes from our bi-weekly individual
conferences.
During the second week of January, we closed one of our
morning work cycles with a discussion of Freedom and Responsibility. Julian and
I were rather amazed at how captivated they all were with this discussion! I
used the metaphor of a see-saw: on one end is Responsibility and, on the other,
Freedom. I explained that when Freedom is up, and Responsibility is down, there
is a problem. Here is how and what I explained to them, on their level. First,
a Montessori classroom does not operate with complete “freedom.” In fact, I
shared with them a term that Montessori uses, “anarchy,” to describe complete “freedom.”
I taught them that word, telling them
that is means “chaos.” We talked about when we do whatever we want – complete
freedom/chaos – we are not actually developing our minds, wills and bodies
because we are simply bound to our impulses. I told them the word Montessori
uses which is “slaves” to impulse. True “freedom” is actually when we are in
control of ourselves and when it is balanced with Responsibility. Hence, the
see-saw metaphor. When we make responsible decisions about what to work on and
what to do, we are truly “free”
because we are in control of ourselves and not “slaves to impulses.” This balance
brings all humans, young and old, a sense of happiness, self-contentment and
inner peace. When the see-saw has true freedoms (self-control and impulse
control) on one side, responsibility automatically rises up to meet it. The
more “true” freedom (or, in other words, self-discipline) we have, the more
responsibility we have and together, the balancing of these two allows for our full
development and personal happiness. As adults with more life experiences, we
know that feeling in control of our impulses gives us personal strength and a
positive image of ourselves. Practicing this balance is the underlying goal of
every Montessori work cycle so we can prepare them for productive and generous
lives ahead. Believe it or not – they got it! That doesn’t mean they mastered
it, but they get it!
In the early weeks of January, we did the Fourth and Fifth
Great lessons: The History/Story of Language and the History/Story of Numbers. While
these lessons were basic overviews due to their age, we could see their minds
turning, as demonstrated by their comments, questions and follow up work, about
their place in history. Children of this developmental plane are fascinated
with history and what came before because suddenly their sense of chronology
begins to solidify. I am sure you notice in your daily lives that they are now
more capable of understanding the abstract concept of time (whether in hours,
months, or years, etc) han just a year ago. Some fun follow- up lessons and
activities for the History of Math were writing numbers in Chinese, writing
Roman numerals and reviewing the importance of our base ten system, developed
thousands of years ago, and still in use.
In other fun news you may have heard about: leaving the
children “alone.” Sometimes, I joke with
the children and tell them that I have to go make copies (sometimes true and
sometimes not!) and I designate a “Julian” and a “Kateri” while we are “ away “
– usually just outside the doorway. It is remarkable how seriously and joyfully
they both take on and carry out this responsibility! They kindly re-direct each
other, ring the bell and make an announcement and otherwise, take care of
themselves! Montessori says that the true sign of reaching what she calls,
“normalization,” - what we call “work engagement” - is that the teacher be
virtually invisible. While they think I am making copies, I am assessing their
work engagement and self-discipline- they are showing me up! J
One final comment before I offer some comments on the lessons
we have covered. This past week, we had a lesson on filtering our language. I
invited Saleha Erdmann, our Elementary Social Worker to attend the lesson with
us. Using the concrete materials of salt, raw sugar, pebbles, a flour sifter and
a bowl I told the students that the salt, the ingredient which adds flavor to
the food we prepare and functions as a preservative of food represents words
that are affirmations, compliments, and helpful. The sugar, a sweetener to our
foods represents kind, encouraging and fun words. Finally, the pebbles
represent words that are about other’s bodies
(size, weight, hair, coordination, skin color, physical disabilities); abilities (what another cannot do, has
not mastered yet, is not good at etc.) and disparagements
of any kind. I taught them this word saying it meant “a put-down.” As I slowly
dropped pebbles into the sifter, I used literal examples of words/statements
from each of these three categories: body, ability and disparagement. As you
can surmise, the lesson is to see what passed through. I taught them the word
“filter” saying that certain things can pass through our lips and certain
things cannot and should not. We passed around for all to see both the bowl of
raw sugar and salt that came through the sifter and the sifter itself that had
retained the pebbles - and a few clumps
of raw sugar which I told them were insincere compliments! This concrete
demonstration was helpful to our students. You are welcome to use these terms
at home if “pebble words” pass over their lips and you would like them to
filter better.
Housekeeping items:
1.)
Please try to always have a plastic bag in your
child’s back pack so when snow pants are wet/muddy etc and they don’t want to
wear them home on the bus or in the car, we can put them in the backpack
without making it a mess in there! J
2.)
We are going on a Field trip to the Dodge Nature
Center the week after next. We will be taking a bus and you will need to pack a
“picnic style friendly” lunch for them that day. We will be sending a separate
single communication about the trip this upcoming week. As of right now, we are
not in need of any chaperones.
3.)
See the next blog post for notes about what to do with
your narcissus bulb we grew during December and that your child brought home
for the Winter break. Hopefully you still have it! Remember, only cut off the stems, not the leaves. I will be transplanting mine in the class this week, so the children can see how its done.
Language/ Reading
We now have several students reading chapter books and
answering comprehension questions. This is preparation for a book report which
they will do in the upcoming weeks. This will be their first class
presentation! Other students are reading short stories and also building
terrific confidence. The entire class is now reading at some level! Speaking of
levels, we did formal reading assessments with all the students and we are
happy to report that all of the students have increased in level, and many have
taken leaps and bounds from September.
Spelling: long
vowel variations: long a: a-e; ai,ay,eigh; long e: ee,ea; i-e, long i:i-e ie, igh;
long o: o-e, oe,ow; long u: u-e, ue, ew
Words by heart (WBH):
we hve increased the list to about 40 words and many have made it to the half
way point!
Grammar: Now that
we have a solid base of reading, phonetics and sight words and lots of
confidence in reading and writing, we will begin some advanced grammar lessons.
Thus far, they have just been on punctuation.
NOTE: We are focusing
on the proper use of past participles – the irregular ones. English is riddled
with irregular past participles and children learn them by hearing the correct
usage and by saying them. These irregulars include words such as: taught (instead
of “teached”); went (instead of “goed”); ate instead of “eated” ; wrote (instead
of “writed” etc). All children in the
English speaking world automatically use the regular ending – “ed” to make the
past participles. While not always correct, this hypercorrection does however,
demonstrate that they have internalized how to make the past tense, which is
good thing! But, we have many, many irregulars past participles in English.
PLEASE model for and correct your child in the moment, on the incorrect use of past
participles, such as the ones listed above because proper usage in context is the
primary way children learn this abstract, non-rule based grammar.
Our cursive handwriting is really coming along. It will be
soon removed from most of their learning journals as suggested practice since
they have mostly mastered it! J
Math:
We have done much work with days of the week, months of the
year, and the uneven distribution of 365 days across 12 months! We are excited
to be in February which now most know is the shortest month. At the end of the
month, we will introduce the concept of leap year even though it is not one.
Fractions: while much of our fraction work is directly related to clock work,
some students are discovering equivalencies (2/6 = 1/3) and the inverse
relationship between the higher numbers and the smaller the amount (1/12 of a
cookie versus a 1/3 of a cookie)
Greater than, less than and other mathematical symbols.
Math facts: the students are finally biting into this work
and making read headway in learning their math facts. So far, we are still on
addition but soon subtraction will come. They are learning to quiz themselves
and they enjoy working with others to quiz each other. Working to timer is also
popular; I tell them they have to say the answer within one snap of a finger,
which most can do. J
Review of the Hierarchies: reading large numbers, use of
commas in numbers and omitting the word “ and” in between hierarchical
families, such as [3284] : three
thousand two hundred eighty-four – NOT three thousand two hundred and eighty-four. We make this
distinction to prepare them for decimal work in which we DO use the word “and”
such as 3284.2 three thousand two hundred eighty-four and two tenths.
Practical Life :
Still, and thankfully, washing, cleaning, food preparation activities continue
to be works of interest and choice. Just this week, we had a “cleaning crew” in
the classroom, literally washing the chairs as they put them up on the tables
at the end of the day and washing entire shelves with soap and water after
carefully removing all the items and placing them on a rug in the order in
which they were on the shelf. This is excellent visual memory work not to
mention excellent practice of being methodical, an important cognitive habit
often overlooked in our “smart world” which makes things only “one step” away.
A new work on the Practical Life shelf includes a ripping of
cardboard work. This helps them develop finger strength; although they thought
I was joking that it was a work! Also,
we have new water transfer works with a large sponge that has been popular. Our
handworks of weaving, knitting, making yarn balls from skeins etc are all still
very popular and I am happy to report that now during read aloud at the end of
the day, many students chose a handwork to do while they listen.
Art: We are exceptionally lucky to have Julian who is very
gifted in free drawing and art overall. He has been able to give some
individual art lessons, mostly still life using the geometric solids. It is fun
to see the students so interested and impressed with his ability! If I did not
mention in the earlier months, we have a light table in the classroom and the
students will sometimes choose a picture to trace on the table. Very fun and a
good concentration work. Finally, origami is super popular now!
Cosmic Education:
As I mentioned, we did the last two Great lessons in January
and will keep doing follow up activities related to them. On another vein, we
have several students who are on a determined path to learn as many state names
and shapes. They are making, coloring and labeling their US maps.
Community activities:
We have had a jigsaw puzzle out on a low table for children
to work on when they choose. It has been interesting to see who is drawn to
that. We are on our second 300 piece puzzle – thanks to a family who loaned us
the second one. As you know, I teach the students many Songs in French (mostly
because that is all I know!) and our new one is: Coucou Hibou. It is a call and response but we are not there yet. Here
is a youtube version though we sing it without any music.
THANK YOU FOR READING THIS EXTRA LONG VERSION TO ACCOUNT FOR
MY MISSED WEEK.
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